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The Friday Photos: Egyptian London

Embankment Sphinx by Martin de Kauwe

Embankment Sphinx by Martin de KauweMemorial to The Imperial Camel Corps and Cleopatra’s Needle on Embankment by Stuart-LeeEgyptian Seat Ornament on public bench on Embankment by Mark CornickA Crystal Palace Park Sphinx by Past LondonIslington Sphinxes and Obelisks on Richmond Avenue by curry15Bronze Cats: Carreras Cigarette Factory – “The black cat was the logo of Carreras Cigarettes, designed by M.E and O.H Collins with A.G Porri in 1928, just a few years after Howard Carter had discovered the tomb of the Tutankhamun.” Photo and info by curry15Detail of Faience Decoration: Carlton Cinema Essex Road by curry15Kilmorey Mausoleum: St. Margaret’s Road Twickenham by curry15Egyptian Avenue, Highgate Cemetery by Amanda FarahEgyptian Head, Kensal Green Cemetery, W10 by victorian london40ft Anubis in Trafalgar Square in 2007 for the Tutankamun exhibition. Should have put him in the fourth plinth. Photo by Simon Crubellier. A visitor to Olafur Eliason’s Sun installation in Tate Modern, 2003, walks like an Egyptian. Photo by Taro Taylor.

Following a Sphinx spotting thread on our Facebook page this week, we were inspired to search our Flickrpool for traces of ancient Egypt in London.

Embankment is a hub for Egyptian influences, with Cleopatra’s Needle and its flanking sphinxes and ornamental benches. In Embankment Gardens, the memorial to the Imperial Camel Corps pays tribute to those who lost their lives in action in Egypt, as well as Sinai and Palestine. Thanks to Martin de Kauwe, Stuart-Lee and Mark Cornick for sharing their photos in the Londonist pool.

The terraces at Crystal Palace Park are flanked by huge stone Sphinxes, some in great condition, as you can see in Past London’s photo. Others are off-limits and crumbling to bits, or in danger of defacement, as Ronald Hackston’s colourful shot from 2009 shows.

Oh, and as a bonus extra, this is what an Egyptian Goose looks like, courtesy of Stephen I*liffe. These are migratory birds that really shouldn’t be found in Palmers Green in the middle of winter. But there you go.

Young Sherlock Holmes (also titled as Young Sherlock Holmes and the Pyramid of Fear) is a 1985 mystery/adventure film directed by Barry Levinson and written by Chris Columbus, based on characters by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The movie depicts a young Sherlock Holmes and John Watson meeting and solving a mystery together at a boarding school.[1]
This films provides a nostalgic howbeit imaginary way London showed its Egyptian Viictorian image vis a vis magic, mayhem and young Sherlock caught in the confusion. Nice entertainment.